[LAU] OT: musicmadewithlinux: Mozart Symphony #40

[Patrick Shirkey]

On Wed, December 19, 2012 10:01 am, Chris Cannam wrote:
> On 18 December 2012 00:37, Ralf Mardorf <ralf.mardorf at alice-dsl.net>
> wrote:
>> I know less about Mozart, but his music sounds insincere to me, like
>> things done by Malcolm McLaren.
>
> I think that's an interesting point of view, and one I can understand.
> It might help to think of Mozart as an ingenious and emotive composer
> writing in a language that has since come to seem commonplace -- a bit
> like English readers might sometimes think of Dickens, especially
> after seeing half a dozen overwrought stage performances of A
> Christmas Carol. He can't be blamed for our context.
>

Some of the more attentive might have noticed several refrains in that
piece that have made it into popular film scores. Jaws is there and a few
more very famous movies have taken chunks out of that Symphony. Makes
sense too. The piece is well known so it saves on expensive
learning/rehearsal time in expensive studios and the producers don't have
to pay any copyright fees either.


> Try some more intimate or historically-informed performances of e.g.
> his piano concertos. Mozart didn't have the grand dynamic thrusts we
> got used to from the romantic period, and performances that emphasise
> the big sweeping stuff just sound a bit formulaic, while those that
> work through detail and local (tonal) colour I find a lot more
> communicative.
>
> I'm sure it's quite normal to have composers that make absolutely no
> sense to you though. Mine is Händel. I don't get him and I'm afraid I
> never will.
>

I'm still trying to get my head around Michael Jackson's works. Some
people still consider him the King of Pop... Such a large range of
emotions.

> (When I was at school, my music teacher -- of whom I was fond --
> thought Brahms' 4th symphony was the pinnacle of mankind's creative
> achievement. Or thereabouts. To this day I can't understand the piece.
> Nowadays, mostly because of his songs and chamber works, Brahms is one
> of my favourite composers but it's taken me over 20 years and I'm
> still not getting that 4th symphony.)
>

listening now...


--
Patrick Shirkey
Boost Hardware Ltd